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Great post Mowgli!

timbstoke

GaryBC wrote: »

I was made redundant from a £3k a month job just prior to 9/11 so, following the resultant total collapse of the jobs market, I was out of work for nine months rather than the weeks I'd expected. Nine months times £3k (plus interest etc) - that's how much our additional card debt was when I eventually got back into work.

So you were earning £3k/month, saving nothing, and even when you lost your job, you didn't even attempt to cut back on your spending? Now you're in debt and you're forced to cut back, you don't like it? Welcome to the real world. Your lavish lifestyle while unemployed has now come back to haunt you - and make no mistake, £3k/month is lavish in anyone's book.

In your position, I would seriously consider downsizing your home if possible - you don't necessarily need to start renting, but moving to a cheaper home could well make you enough to clear your debts and start again.

ILW

I have to agree that spending £3k a month with no income or savings is pretty impressive.

CH27

GaryBC wrote: »

Hhmmm.... Interesting range of comments! From the "we're all here to help" right through to, "it's you're own ******* fault, pull yer socks up and quit wining"! Which, I guess, pretty much mirrors the spread of attitudes in society at large! (Although a common thread seems to be the use of acronyms! Sure, we can all ask, but can the experts here not just simply make the presumption that, the fact that I am here asking for help/advice/opinion in the first place, pretty much defines me as a layman!)

I hadn't set out to leave such a gap between my last post and this but the weekend sort of got in the way! A summary of my situation.

First of all, and contrary to many presumptions, our level of debt is not down to profligate spending on our part! I was made redundant from a £3k a month job just prior to 9/11 so, following the resultant total collapse of the jobs market, I was out of work for nine months rather than the weeks I'd expected. Believing always that we lived off our credit cards (any opinions on how good a call that was are irrelevant - so don't bother to make them). Nine months times £3k (plus interest etc) - that's how much our additional card debt was when I eventually got back into work. But it goes on. That job was both £1k a month down on previous, and 50 odd miles further away. So we're still short on our commitments and topping up our income with the cards (remember though, 'next month' will secure me a proper job). Well that job turned out to be several years down the line but, by then, no salary I could reasonably command would meet our card payments. At that point we realised we were beyond the point of no return so went to CAB. (See? It's not due to designer clothes, expensive holidays, new cars etc!!)

As for a summary of our level of debt we have (rounded) £200k main mortgage; £100k second mortgage; property value £200k - £250k; £100k card debt.
Both mortgages are fully up to date with no missed payments.
The card debt is subject to a payment plan brokered by Payplan about three years ago. We are paying £85 a month (we have analysed our income/expenditure to within an inch of it's life to arrive at that figure).
We are both in full time employment. Two kids - 15 & 12.

It is a fragile but stable and relatively peaceful existence! There is no incentive to increase our payments as, short of a massive pay rise making hundreds of pounds available a month, we will never get the payback period within our lifetimes. We are reluctant to rock the boat as, uncomfortable as it is, all alternatives would appear to be worse!

So. Now you know! Various "experts" have looked at our finances in the last three years and concluded that we probably can't do much better. But with Martin's "there's always a solution" statement I thought I'd check to see if a fresh set of eyes could come up with something that nobody's spotted before!

If nothing else it gives loads of people an anecdote to tell their friends!! ("I read about this guy .........!")

But you have a solution.
Your credit cards payments are substantially reduced & I would say paying £8 per month for 100k of debt is a bloody good solution.

As I say you have a solution. You just don't like the solution.

Little_Miss_Uni-Debt

Hi Gary,

Most people join here during a moment of humbling realisation and sadness when they are scared and frightened for their future. This is often referred to as their Light-Bulb Moment (LBM). It seems that you joined in a moment of anger. This has resulted in a poor introduction to your request for help.

If we can start again. Martin always says there is a solution and from what I've seen on here he's right. He doesn't say it's a straight forward solution or a simple, tailor made way out. Your 100+ year repayment plan is your stable starting point. Yes, it's a HUGE mountain but that's your baseline.

It's now your job to bring that number down as best you can. Situations can and DO change. Were you covered by any redundancy insurance that you could appeal against? Any Payment Protection Insurance mis-sold? Any charges to claim back? These are all basic ideas that could wipe thousands and years off your total. New jobs, extra income will do the same.

I can see you consider your situation "beyond help" from your original post by throwing down the gauntlet.

I know you consider your situation to be the worst of the worst however you need to realise you already are in a better position than a lot of people here.

From what I understand :-

You are up to date with BOTH mortgages
You're still in your own home
You have a job currently
Your wife has a job currently.
You don't have bailiffs knocking on your door
You can meet your monthly expenses
You are paying £X towards your debts regularly
Your family is still together
Your house is in a habitable condition
You can afford to buy food to cover 3 meals a day.
You don't have any immediate life threatening health issues.
You still have your choice of how to tackle your debt.

If those are all true then there are 10+ things to be thankful for. There are many stories on here where people don't have those positives to start from. There are also folks on here that have way more debt than you have.

I think you have come across some less than helpful posts so far because your general message so far has had the tone of "I've made bad judgements spending on cards - you don't need to tell me, just tell me a way out"

That's kind of offensive to those here who have struggled for years navigating financial jargon, researching the best options for themselves and their friends on here. It's not fair for you to ask for an instant fix.

The guys on here will be absolutely amazing if you are open and ready to look objectively at taking (sometimes small) steps towards a better future. Do not underestimate the power of the knowledge and effort people here will apply.

If you are willing to learn a small amount of financial information then you have the resources and support here to find ways to help your situation.

If that doesn't interest you, then you have your baseline.

Maybe the next step is to get accurate balances, limits and interest rates on all of your cards.

I know you don't want to rock the boat with your current plan but if you want to make progress from your current position, you have to DO something, no matter how small.

I can guarantee that by being part of this forum it will improve your current situation if you are kind enough to recognise that everyone here has had similar experiences and are just like you.

This really is the best place to be.

Best of luck.

kaz0705

I'd definitely echo Little Miss Uni-Debt.

The posters on this forum are, collectively, just as well informed as Martin and far freer to help you out.

The main reason why people ask for your SOA (I assume you've checked this out now?) is so we can see if there are cuts that you can make. For instance, you might be paying £XXX a month for gas when the average for a house your size (whatever that maybe be) is £50 lower. Someone can point that out and suggest that you look into alternative suppliers.

Similarly, you might be spending £500 a month on groceries when £250 is a totally achieveable amount. This can be highlighted and suggestions made.

Most importantly, whether you publish your SOA or not, by doing a SOA you will be forced into working out EXACTLY where your money goes each month. Even on a repayment plan, some don't know where the rest goes.

And you could well argue that you KNOW where your money goes but, with all due respect, those who are least financially savvy (as you state) are, in my experience, the least likely to know. Or, more to the point, the least likely to know if each penny is spent on the best *value* option.

So, at the risk of repeating what lots of people have said:

If you want a solution, we need more information to give you pointers and you need to start being more open to ideas and suggestions.

Might I also suggest you start reading through some diaries to show you how terrible some situations can be and how people have over come them. As someone else said, if you can still meet your mortgage payments and your family is still healthy, you are one up on lots of other people that come to these boards.

Ames

I can only echo what the others have said. Your situation's bad, but we've seen worse.

There's absolutely no point rehashing the past and the whys and wherefores of the debt.

If you post a list of your income, outgoings and debts (an SOA - statement of affairs) then new eyes can often see something you've missed - somewhere you're being overcharged, or where you can get the same level of service much cheaper.

As you're on a payment plan, you can't be spending the 3k a month anymore, so when you get a job back up at that amount if you keep to your current spending you'll be able to bring down the debt pretty quickly.